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The creators of the musical biography of Gloria and Emilio Estefan knew what they had when they chose On Your Feet! as the show’s title, out of the many song hits she and her back-up band, the Miami Sound Machine, made famous.
For the prime asset of this light-on-its-feet jukebox musical are the energetic dances that decorate the history of the Estefans’ personal and professional lives.
Like so many of these backstage-onstage musical sagas that have been cropping up on Broadway in recent years with alarming regularity, On Your Feet! is on much more solid footing when the music begins than when it relates the fairly standard rags-to-riches tale of its Cuban-born subjects.
The script, by Alexander Dinelaris, Oscar winner for Birdman, is fairly sketchy and occasionally confusing, but it does lead in well enough to the many beat-heavy, Latin-tinged musical numbers –– such infectious, popular hits as “Conga,” “1-2-3,” “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “Turn the Beat Around” and the title tune. Add to the score the energetic, calisthenic choreography by director Luis Salgado (based on Sergio Trujillo’s original Broadway dance moves) and you have an entertaining enough evening’s diversion.
The first act is dominated by Gloria’s upward climb, including the early difficulty she had getting airplay for her Latin tunes with English lyrics, which did not fit into any existing radio genres. Instead, in an amusing montage, she and the Sound Machine kept themselves busy playing bar mitzvahs and Italian weddings. The second act is dominated by a more dramatic turn as the group’s tour bus collides with a truck, leaving Gloria with a fractured spine that almost ended her career. It was not good for her, obviously, but the crash gives the show a much needed injection of dramatic gravitas.
The musical may have been an also-ran when it came to awards, but it did run nearly two years in New York, from 2015 to 2017, and has enjoyed a prosperous life on tour since then. On Your Feet is returning to the Kravis Center this week, following a stop here in early 2019.
This version is fortunate to have the services of Gaby Albo and Samuel Garnica as Gloria and Emilio. Both have vocal strength to spare and almost sell the soap opera dialogue. The musical numbers are a particular workout for her, as she streaks through a series of high-energy onstage dance performances. Attempting to replicate Estefan’s song-and-dance skills is a tall order, but Albo is more than up to the challenge.
Visually, the production is up to snuff, led by aptly atmospheric projections by Patrick W. Lord, uber-colorful costumes by Jeannette Christensen and rock concert lighting by Christopher Annas-Lee.
On Your Feet! may not be a must-see, but it is a peppy, invigorating way to spend some time with a couple of Estefan surrogates.
ON YOUR FEET!, Kravis Center Dreyfoos Hall, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Through Sunday. $35-$87. Call 561-832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.